Stress Relief
by Tobi Grl
Summary: Both are stressed, the night becomes interesting and they find a way to both relieve their stress away. ; AU


A/N: Before this story begins, I want to apologize if any of the characters are out of character. I tried to keep Itachi as emotionless as possible, but it is AU afterall. Anyways. I really didn't want to go too far into the summary just cuz it would have just given the whole story away.

Anyways, I do not own Naruto at all. If I did, Itachi would have whooped Sasuke's ass into oblivion!

Read and review please, they make me happy. :)

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><p>Not enough sake could drown away the stress and pain he was feeling at the moment. He grasped at the small ceramic shot glass before him, analyzing the liquid inside. If one was to take a sniff of it, it would burn their nostrils. He didn't know what sort of grade he was drinking, but he knew it was strong. Already five shots in him and he was only feeling a little bit woozy. He needed something more, he needed something else.<p>

"I've heard about the crime rates rising…"

The rusty voice of the bartender intruded upon his silence. Tired ebony eyes met with the male behind the counter. He had stopped in whatever business he was doing and was staring the alcoholic down.

"Alcohol won't drown it out."

"…no, you may be right. But I can at least chase the demons away for only but a minute and that shall be enough for me."

His voice was deep, almost cold in a way. It held no emotion and his face portrayed the same. His silky raven colored hair was pulled tightly into a pony. Stress lines could be seen clearly on his face, a reward he had acquired from being the head of the Tokyo police. The male shot back another shot of sake, having become bored of the bartender his eyes now roamed the tavern. Some sort of pop music was blaring in the background, but he ignored it. He tried to focus in on the conversations of the others.

One couple could be heard arguing about their relationship. The female complaining that she never saw the male enough. Another group of males, about four of them, were too drunk off their ass to even make sense of what it was they were conversing about. And then there was HER. She sat alone; it looked as if she was trying to hide herself amongst the crowd of the drunks. Yet, her hair could have given her away even if she was standing a mile from where he was sitting. It was a light pink color, the shade of a cherry blossom petal. It was pulled up into a bun and stray strands of hair were falling out. She looked about as stressed as he was by the way she was slumped in her chair. He could not see her eyes, for she was staring at the table with intensity. Even though he could not see those emerald orbs, he knew that tears were streaming down her cheeks. Her shoulders would shake every so often and then her shoulder blades would widen, showing an inhalation. Suddenly she looked up, quickly wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her coat. Her watery eyes looked around nervously to see if anyone was looking. Deeming it safe she sighed. The male watched her. She was interesting, he thought. He knew who she was. A top medical doctor at the Tokyo Hospital. She was prized in her surgical work, never losing a patient. He then started to wonder why it was she was crying. Had she finally lost her long streak of never having someone die in her hands? In an instant she was moving. She set down a tip upon the table before she buttoned up her white doctor's coat and walked out of the tavern. He was about to turn back to his sake when he saw one of the four males he had analyzed first smirk at his companions and then follow her out.

The siren of an ambulance went blaring past her in a hurry to save some poor soul. She sighed as she wondered if she would be called in that night. She hoped not considering such a bad day she was having. A chill passed by and she hugged her coat closer to her body. It probably wasn't the best idea to have worn a skirt today, but it was decent in the morning. Her heels clacked against the sidewalk. She came to a stop light and pressed the walk button. Looking around her the streets were desolate. Nobody dared venture in the night in Tokyo. With the crime rates being at an astronomical high, everyone tried to get indoors before the sun set. She, however, had to stay late at work today and could not help with the time of the night. A dark figure caught her eye all of a sudden. He was leaning against a building and she could not see his face. The light flashed on the other side of the road to signal for her to walk and she briskly began doing so. She kept up her quick pace as she crossed the street and looked behind her. The male was gone. Her heart rate was beyond normal, but gradually started to return back. Maybe it was just a bum?

"Where are you going, sweetheart?"

The female halted in her tracks. The voice before her making her heart rate speed back up once again. The male looked to be about her age and she could smell the large amounts of alcohol on his breath.

"I want no trouble, sir. Go to your residence."

She tried to hold a voice of authority, but it didn't seem to work as he started to creep towards her. She started to back up, eyes upon him the whole time. He held a smirk upon his lips, a nasty one that she wanted to smack right off his face.

"Please, just go home."

"Mmm, I don't think so. Not unless I can take you home with me!"

The other lunged at her. She held up her arms to try and fend him off, but even in his drunken state he was stronger than her. His mouth was right next to her face and she tried to swallow the bile that rose at the stench of alcohol hitting her nose. One of his hands was fumbling around trying to pin her against the wall and another was trying to go up her shirt. She yelped, screams erupting from her throat.

"Nooo! Stop! Please, just let me go!"

She started to cry once again. She was going to get raped and then probably killed right after. If she had said this day couldn't possibly get any worse, it just had. She closed her eyes tightly and tried to move her face away from his. But soon she couldn't smell the alcohol anymore, and his hand wasn't trying to grasp at her body. She was free of him? Quickly she opened her eyes and looked around. On the ground lay her assailant, face down and a trail of blood running from his head down the sidewalk.

"Wha…"

Another figure was there now. Her eyes turned towards her hero and she tried to take him in, but the adrenaline coursing through her body right now was making it hard to process anything. He started to come towards her and she backed up, hitting the wall.

"Don't hurt me…"

The other held out his hand towards her, staying a good distance out of her personal space, but offering his hand almost in a gesture of protection. She looked from his hand to his face that she could not see from the darkness, then back to his hand.

"I shall walk you home safely."

He announced. His voice was so calm, almost too calm. She figured he could trust him though, considering he just knocked out, or possibly killed, the man that tried to have his way with her. Cautiously she held out her hand and placed it in his. It was warm and soft, a lot better than the cold calloused hand of her assailant. He pulled her away from the body upon the ground walking under the light of a lamp post. Now she could make out his face.

"Itachi…Uchiha?"

He just nodded. She knew him well; he was after all the chief of police in the area. He did a great job in his profession, but you could tell in his face on how it was taking its toll upon him. He looked tired, almost bored too, but still very handsome. She always thought he was good looking. Her and a few other nurses at the hospital would ogle over his picture when he showed up in the daily newspaper for some heroic act he accomplished. A slight blush was forming across her cheeks and she for once was glad it was dark out.

"Umm, thank you. For saving me back there, I really owe you one."

He just stared at her, no answer to her welcoming graces. He was just doing his job, and this was probably an everyday thing for him. Rescuing damsels in distress like her. She felt stupid for felling special.

"Where do you live?"

His voice was quite, but she still heard him. She looked around at where she was, almost feeling lost from when the other had attacked her.

"Oh uhh, I live down the block from here. It's not too far; I think I can make it."

"I know you live farther, do not lie to me."

Her blush was back and even darker now. How the hell did he know where she lived?

"What? No, I think I know where I live it's just-"

"I am the chief of police. I know where everyone lives in this city and I know for a fact that you are lying to me. Do not continue with this."

She sheepishly recoiled from his hurtful words. They came out sharp and harsh from his mouth. He could sense her bashfulness and he tried to search for new words to comfort her.

"Do not feel afraid to be with me. I only wish to take you home safely."

"I know, I'm sorry I shouldn't have doubted you. I'm just still scared from my recent encounter."

She looked behind her at the body on the ground; she swore she thought he stirred upon the ground. She squeaked and suddenly she found herself oddly close to Itachi. She could feel his body heat radiating upon her own body and she looked up. Those dark and calm ebony eyes looked down upon her. She blushed once more, if that was even possible, and quickly took a step away from his space.

"Sorry, I'm still spooked."

"Hn."

"Could we possibly start walking towards my apartment?"

She questioned, wondering if they were ever going to start moving and he just nodded, walking off down the sidewalk. The walk continued in silence, coming up at a bus stop Itachi halted and Sakura stayed near him. His presence was comforting and she felt protected. Another male and female sat at the bus stop with them. The male eyed Sakura while the female was smoking a cigarette. Sakura moved closer to Itachi's form and accidently hit him in the process. He looked over at her, noticing her gaze upon the male that was staring at Sakura with hardened eyes. He grasped at her bicep, and she squeaked at the intrusion. Itachi pulled at her arm and forced her to move to his other side. The male that was staring finally broke his gaze from Sakura now that she was out of his line of sight and focused on the male that had done so. Itachi stared with a blank gaze as the males eyes narrowed. The sound of breaks screeching could be heard coming around the corner and a large bus came to a quick stop in front of the customers. Itachi held back Sakura as the other male and female filed onto the bus, following suit and placing Sakura on the inside of a seat, himself taking the outside. The bus lurched forward and started down its path.

The bus smelled odd, making Sakura try and hold her breath the whole way to her apartment. She tried to concentrate on the neon lights that passed by. The colors seemed to blend, creating an odd almost lulling comfort to the girl, but she was thrown forward as the bus screeched to a stop and the female with the cigarette moved out. She almost didn't want to, but her intriguing mind caught the best of her and she looked over her shoulder at the male that had been staring at her while at the bus stop. He was still staring at her with those dark eyes which made Sakura quickly turn back around. She was very thankful of Itachi's presence right now that she looked up at him. He was staring blankly towards the front of the bus. She wondered what it was that he was thinking. Probably pissed he had to walk her to her house when he could be at home sleeping. His eyes now moved towards Sakura and she sheepishly looked away. His eyes observed her carefully. She seemed upset almost.

"Tell me…why were you crying at the tavern tonight?"

"Huh?"

"You were crying, why was it?"

Sakura was caught so off-guard by his question. She also was wondering how he even knew she was crying.

"Umm…I just…had a bad day at work was all."

"Do you care to elaborate more upon that?"

Sakura flinched. She didn't want to talk about her day, she didn't want to have to revisit that moment in her mind. Sakura rubbed her arm, trying to calm herself to not start crying. Thank whatever god above that the bus had lurched forward once more, announcing her address. Itachi looked away from her up to the front of the bus. Carefully he got up and allowed for the girl to take the lead in front of him. He eyed the other male upon the bus who watched as Sakura moved off the bus. He narrowed his eyes before following suit and entering back into the cold night. Sakura seemed to fumble with some keys before she finally pried her front door free. Turning around she produced a smile for her male companion.

"Well, thanks for taking me home. I really appreciate it."

He just nodded towards her before turning on his heel to walk away. He had done his part of the night and made sure she was safe, now he could return back to drinking all of his pain away.

"I lost him…"

Her voice was very quiet and Itachi almost didn't catch her words as he carried on down the sidewalk. He turned his head slightly to the side.

"I…it was so hard. He was in for a tumor removal in the brain. I've done neurosurgery before, and it's always been a success, even with the lowest of rates of survival. But…there was just so much blood. I…accidently hit an internal carotid artery. I couldn't believe I had slipped, I've never messed up."

By now her body was shaking and silent tears were streaming down her face. She didn't even notice his presence right in front of her until he spoke with that soft and calming voice of his.

"Not everyone is perfect, everyone makes mistakes. You cannot save everyone. If you build yourself up for total perfection then you are only going to fall even harder. You must accept the loss and move on. As hard as it may be, you must understand that."

She looked up at him. Those bright emerald orbs watery and her face showed hurt. Itachi reached up to her face, his thumb pressed against a tear that found itself away from her beautiful eye. She gasped at his touch. His thumb followed the trail of her tear back up to her eye where he erased the tears existence.

"Do not cry."

His voice was so sweet, so seductive. It calmed her body from shaking and she was now looking into those deep dark eyes of his. They were so emotionless, but yet it seemed like they held a caring touch for her. Maybe she was just hoping though. The touch of his thumb moved back down her cheek and his thumb and forefinger cupped her chin, pulling her towards him. Her body kept trying to tell her to resist, but her heart was pounding too loudly and it drowned out the urge to stop him. Her eyes lulled, feeling his warm lips hit hers. It was almost electric, her body tingled all over as his lips moved against hers, making her follow him. His body started to move towards hers now and she could feel herself getting pushed against her door. Her hands shot up towards his chest. She knew she should push him away, but she couldn't seem to. She could feel his heart beating under the hard muscles that protected that beautiful organ. The beat was rhythmic.

_Thump thump…Thump thump…Thump thump…_

His didn't change pace, but she could feel her own trying to find its way out of her chest. Warm lips trailed away from her own and she was finally able to take in a large breath. Itachi trailed small kisses down her neck, placing a small kiss upon her collarbone before bringing his gaze back up to look at her. Her eyes were half closed, in a total state of bliss.

"Have you stopped crying yet?"

"Depends, if I say no, will you continue to take them away?"

For the first time, she saw a smirk produce upon his lips. He had never showed any emotions, even when taking pictures for the newspapers. It was just him. But the way the right corner of his lips pulled up ever so slightly. The way it made him look dangerous, seductive, sweet, heart wrenching…it just made her heart pound ever so much more. She bit her bottom lip, reaching behind her to open her door. The couple fell into the darkness of her home, the night becoming a lot less stressful.


End file.
